A Crime Not Soon Forgotten
by codegirl96
Summary: Caira Summerton has always been plagued by the horrors of her past. So, when the death of a young woman starts pulling back into the memories she has tried so desperately to forget, she will have to face her past to save the ones she loves. T for violence
1. Prolouge: Deep Thought

**New ficcy! Yay! Read and Review!**

**Here we go, my first crime/mystery story. Which is funny because I've loved mystery books the longest, so you would think I would have written one sooner.**

**Disclaimer: This was my idea.**

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**Prolouge:  
Deep Thought**

_She didn't see it. __The gun was aimed at her, so why didn't she see__._

_Why did he get in the way, when the bullet was meant for her._

_That sound... that horrible sound of gun fire._

_"Alan!" she cried running to him._

_Why did it happen, they were just kids, why did they have to live a life like this._

_Why..._

"Hey, Caira." a voice called snapping the woman out of her thoughts.

Caira looked up at the man standing in the doorway of her office. She sighed heavily, rubbing the bridge of her nose. Her pale green eyes tired, and her long wavy black hair hung limply around her sholders.

"Ya know, ya should probably think 'bout cleanin' up this place." the man said, shifting his focus around the room.

Her office was simple, the door and the wall the door hung on were made of glass. The top half of the wall behind her was windows, and the two side walls were a gray-blue color. And the carpet was gray. The left wall was lined with filing cabinets, whose draws were open and cluddered, papers lay strewned about the floor in front of them. A large bookcase sat against the right wall, next to it were two large stacks of paperwork and a tower of boxes that reached the ceiling.

Her desk was wooden with three drawers on either side of her. Two chairs sat in front of her desk, and papers were strewn all over on her desk top. She sat on a black cushioned chair with wheels on the legs.

Her occupation, law enforcement. More specificly, she was a detective, solving crimes and giving families closer. A rewarding, but sometimes tiresome job.

"What do you what Braxton?" Caira asked tiredly, leaning her head on her hand.

She had on a loose gray shirt, jeans, black heels, and of course her work belt. A black leather belt that held her gun, handcuffs, mace, and just about everything else. Her badge was pinned onto her shirt.

"We just got report of a DB in an alley way on Hunter Rd." he answered in his more southern accent. he looked down at the report in his hands. "The Director wants ya to investigate the scene. The police are all ready down there."

"All right, tell the officers to secure the scene. I'll head there immediately." she said standing up. She rummaged through the top drawer of her desk for her keys.

"Hey, ya feelin' okay?" Braxton asked with a worried expression.

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"Ya just seemed to be out of it lately. Are ya sleepin' awright?" he asked.

"Not really, a lot of bad memories have been haunting me lately." she answered. "But, it's nothing you need to worry about." Caira smiled tiredly at him.

"Well, just don't be workin' to hard. We don't need ya passin' out or anythin'." Braxton joked, leaning against the door frame.

"Right. Don't worry I'll be fine." she said with a chuckle. When she finally located her car keys, she grabbed her bag and started for the door. "Thanks for the advice, though." she said as she walked passed him, snatching the report from his hand.

Caira read the report as she quickly walked to her car, a white 1996 Mustang GT Convertible with black interior. It was about 9p.m., so the car's snow white color had more of a gray tint to it. She unlocked the door and climbed inside, tossing the report onto the passanger seat. She turned the key in the ignition and the car roared to life. The radio started playing country music, the fact that she listened to it was about the only evidence of her childhood growing up in Kansas.

Caira backed out of her spot and drove out of the parking lot, heading for the crime scene. She had a feeling tonight was going to be a long night.

**Chapter End**

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**This was just to introduce the character, I promise more soon.**

**Next Chapter:**

**Chapter 1: Crime Scene**

**Review Please!**


	2. Chapter 1: Crime Scene

**Okay, chapter 1! Let's see if all those hours spent watching CSI and reading crime novels finally pay off.**

**Here goes nothing!**

**Disclaimer: I just realized I actually don't need to put these in here since I own all of this, but I will continue to do so even though there is no point. Probably because I'm stubborn like that. So yeah, this was my idea.**

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**Chapter 1:  
Crime Scene**

As she drove, Caira watched the world past by. The lights and sounds of the city flying past her in bright streaks. Many times in the past she had wanted to keep driving and never stop, she wanted to see where the road would take her. But for some reason she could never leave. It was funny to her, a down home country girl like her becoming a detective in a city like New York.

Caira chuckled at the thought.

And now she was practically famous, some great detective that could solve any crime. Her specialty, any crime involving a gang. It didn't suprise her though, she knew how they worked and what ran through a member's mind after a kill.

Caira's GPS beeped, snapping her out of her thoughts. The flashing lights of the police cruisers comfirmed she had reached her destination. She pulled onto the sholder of the road and searched her glove box for her camera, voice recorder, and notepad. When she found them she stepped out of her car an dinto what she felt like would be the hardest case of her career. She shut the car door and made her way to the group of police and bystanders who stood in front of the alley way. Her heels clicking against the sidewalk.

Apon hearing he rapprouch one of the taller oficers turned towards her smiling warmly.

"Well if it isn't 'Nancy Drew'." the man teased. "What took you so long?"

"If you don't mind Colton, I would appreciate it if you didn't call me that." Caira smirked at him. "I have a job to do and you using nicknames is not helping me do that job."

"Yeesh, what's wrong with you?"

"A lot of things. My grandma is ridin' my ass for god know what, I have three mountains of paperwork at the office I still need to go through, I'm behind on my electric bill. My cat died, I haven't slept in two days, and now I'm standing in 'Gang Bang Central' wasting my time having a pointless conversation with a deputy that's three years younger than me and a foot taller." she listed harshly.

"Wow, well it looks like I can't complain about my wife wanting a divorce." Colton joked. "Seems you're having a tougher time than me."

"Exactly, now where's the DB?" Caira asked.

"Right, this way." Colton jestered to the alley. They pushed through the crowd and made it to the neon yellow crime scene tap. The only thing Caira could see at that moment was the decease's leg. It wasn't until she stepped over the tap and into the alley that she see the full scene.

There in the middle of the alley laid a young woman, around late 20s - early 30s, long blonde hair, held in a nicely done pony tail. She had on a short but still flowy bright red dress.

"Hey Colton, do you have any spare plastic gloves?" Caira asked looking at her partner.

"You're lucky I always have extra." he sighed, reaching into his back pocket.

"It's a good thing you and I have the same glove size, too." Caira said taking the gloves he handed her. As she pulled them on she walked over to the body. Sitting on the back of her heels she looked it over. "Do we have any ID yet?"she asked.

"Yeah hold on a second." he said. "Hey Joshua!" he called to a smaller officer, who quickly scurried to them. "Do you have the vic's ID?"

"Uh, yes here it is." Joshua said handing a small card in a evidence bag to him."

"Thanks." Colton said turning to Caira. "Okay, vic's name is April Richards." he continued reading the card. "22 year old caucasian female, 5"6, 153lbs, blonde hair, and blue eyes."

"Poor thing, dying so young. She probably was just starting to see the world for what it really is." Caira mused. "Any other information? Did you notify her family?"

"We did sir- I mean Ma'am!" Joshua corrected himself. "And as for information, we found a school ID in her purse." he said reading off his notes. "She's a student at the Institute of Modern Art. Also, we didn't find any cash on her."

"Nothing?" Caira asked standing up.

"Not even a penny."

"Maybe the killer went through her purse... Make sure you check it for finger prints."

"Yes Ma'am. Although I don't think he went though it." Joshua ammited.

"What do you mean?" Colton asked.

"Well, the thing is we found a pocket knife in her purse." he explained. "It was a 2in. blade with a red cover. The cover had a gold flower design, and also what looked like diamonds envedded in it."

"Wait, did you say diamonds?" Caira said shocked. "Well then, in that case why take just the cash? I'm sur ea pocket knife like that would sell for more than a few bucks." she said to herself. _"So, why only the money?"_ she thought.

"Maybe she didn't have any money to begin with." Colton interjected seeming to read her mind.

"Maybe... but still..." Caira mumbled to herself. All right, I'm starting the investigation." she said walking to the alley's openning and then turning to face the scene. She took her recorder from her pocket and turned it on.

"Detective Caira Summerton, staring investigation." she spoke into the recorder. "Date is March 31, 2009. Location is the 2nd alley way on Hunter Rd. Victim is 22 year old April Richards, caucasian female." she said looking at her watch. "Time now, 10:15 pm. Body was found at around 9:00pm. after police recieved a tip off from an anonymous source calling from a phone booth at a gas station, 2 blocks from the crime scene."

"Amount of blood suggests the victim died of blood loss." Caira walked back to the body. "Postition of the body suggests victim was running from her attacker." she looked at the woman's feet. "Victim is barefoot and bruising on her feet suggests she had ran for some distance." Caira looked over the body again. "Lack of hemorraging on eyes rules out asphyxiation as the cause of death." her eyes ran down the woman until her sight fell on the bullet wound in the center of the woman's back.

"Probable COD is a shot to the back." Caira looked around the alley. "There are no signs of a struggle." as she looked around a small gleam of light drew her attention back to the body. "Victim is missing one of her gold hoop earrings." then she noticed something on the ground.

"What's this" Caira asked herself carefully picking up the item with her gloved hand. "A necklace?"

It was a beautiful and expensive looking necklace. It was an angel with gold wings and its head seemed to be made from a pearl, its dress a large diamond. The angel hung on a thin solid gold chain. The diamond had a large piece missing from it.

_"What could have happened that would break such a large diamond?"_ Caira thought. _"Wait a second..."_ she turned the angel over in her hands, and there on the back of the wings written in tiny letters, it read:

_For my baby girl. Your guardian angel._  
_Mom_

Also written on it was:

_I will always be there for you.  
CS to TE_

The second half of the message was written differently than the first and looked like it was carved into the angel.

_"CS to TE?"_ Caira thought. "Colton!" she called to the officer who was still standing nearby. "The victim's initals are AR, right?"

"Yeah, April Richards. Why? Did you find something?" he asked, walking over to her.

"Maybe... I feel like I've seen this somewhere before..." she mumbled, then it hit her. "Colton!" she stood suddenly making the man jump. "Send this to the lab immediately. See if they can find when, where, and who purchased it." she said carefully handing the necklace to him.

"All right, anything else?" he asked.

"Yes, the victim is missing her shoes and a gold hoop earring, see if you can locate them. They may be able to tell us where she had been before she was killed." she said starting to walk away. "Also, try to find anyone who saw the victim before the tip off. Get any report of odd sounds or events that took place." Caira instructed walking to her car. "I'm heading back to the office, send me any information you find on that necklace or the victim." she was about to get in her car when she remembered something else.

"Oh also Colton, send my the numbers of the victim's family, friends, school, work, and anyone else ofimportants so I can talk to themmyself." she called climbing into the car.

"Will do, take it easy okay."

"Yeah, you too."

"Oh, and happy birthday!" Colton called before she could close the door.

"Whatever!" she scuffed, then shut the car door. "It's not for another week, you moron..." she mumbled under her breath. _"__Still... that necklace..."_ she thought staring at the dash, keys half way in the ignition. Images of the necklace and the words subscribed on its back flashed in her head. _"It can't be him..."_ now images of a smiling hrown haired boy with clear blue blue eyes ran through her mind. "Tomi..." she whispered to herself quietly.

"Caira shook her head, breaking away from the thought. She turned the keys and the car's engine roared. She took a deep breath, then backed the car up and drove away. Leaving the scene behind.

_"It looks like past troubles are coming back to get me after all."_ Caira thought, smiling to herself. She gripped the wheel tightly. _"Well, maybe this time I'll get what I deserve."_

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**Okay, so that didn't work as well as I hoped. Oh well, the ending worked out pretty good I guess.**

**Next Chapter:**

**Chapter 2: The Necklace**

**Things will be much harder for now on.**

**Read and Review, _PLEASE!_**


	3. Chapter 2: The Necklace

**Time for chapter 2! Yay! **

**Thank you Suaveburn for your review I do hope this story turns out good.**

**The first part of this chapter is more for humor them anything, so enjoy!**

**And just so you know the southern voice with Braxton was a bust so now he talks normally.**

**Also, if you haven't noticed the ltalics at the beginning is a flashback.**

**PS: These characters are made up, so the victim's parents occupations are total lies. They are not true!**

**Disclaimer: *refer to prolouge***

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**Chapter 2:  
The Necklace**

_"Caira! Come here!" a dark haired woman called up the stairs of hr small two-story house._

_"All right! I'll be right there!" a small voice called down followed by the light tapping of feet on the wooden floor. Then, down the steps ran a black haired girl followed by a slightly taller brown haired boy. "What is it mommy?"_

_"I just thought I should give you this." the woman smiled pulling a small box from behind her back. "Happy birthday!"_

"Caira!"

"Huh!" Caira sat up quickly, nearly falling out of her chair. She looked up at the man standing in front of her desk and frowned. "What is it Braxton?" she said with a yawn.

"You know if you're tired you can go home." he smirked.

"No, I'm fine. What time is it?" she asked waving away the idea of leaving. Braxton peered down at his watch.

"It's 10:30 am." he answered.

"Damn it." Caira swore laying her head on the desk.

"I'm guessing you haven't found anything yet."

"No. Did you?" she asked.

"Actually. I have the information you wanted on that angel pendant." Braxton smiled holding up the file he had.

"Really!" Caira said hopefully, sitting up.

"Yes, and I was just wondering," he threw the file coldly down on her desk, the cover openned revealing a picture. "what the hell is a necklace your mother purchased 22 years ago doing at our crime scene!" he nearly shouted.

"Caira jumped at the sudden outburst. "Shh! Braxton shut up! Do you want the whole office to know?" she hushed him.

"Then explain." he demanded in a softer voice.

"Fine." she said rolling her eyes. "My mom bought it for my eighth birthday, alright. She had it custom made."

"Then, why was it at the crime scene next to our DB?

"I don't know! I haven't seen it in 14 years!" she admitted.

"Wait." Braxton said in a much calmer voice. "14 years? Then where as it been all this time?"

"I don't know..." Caira sighed. "I gave it to a friend and haven't seen it since."

"Well then, who is this friend you gave it to?" he asked.

"I can't... tell you." she said hanging her head.

"What do you mean you can't me?"

"I just can't."

"Your so called 'friend' might have killed that girl!" Braxton said trying to reason with her. "And your trying to hide their identity! Are you seriously that stupid?"

"Will you be a little quieter, please!" Caira snapped. "Listen, once I have this case straightened out I'll come clean and tell you everything. Okay? Just please shut up. You're giving me a headache." she said rubbing her temples.

"You better, I'm looking forward to your explanation. And don't think you're going to get out of it, either."

"Fair enough. Now, do you have anything else for me?" she asked. Braxton let out a sigh.

"Yes, I have the victim's optopsy report." he said looking at the papers. "The bullet wound was a threw-and threw, it entered through the victim's back and exitted directly under the rib cage. The cause of death was blood loss due to the injury." he read. "But Investigators were unable to recover any bullets or casings from the crime scene."

"Great. They took the bullet too." Caira huffed. "They're not giving us a lot to work with."

"They rarely do." he noted. "Also, there weren't any fingerprints or foot prints recovered either."

"_Did_ the police find anything?"

"They did locate the victim's missing jewelry and shoes. The earring was found at a bar called 'The Blue Rose', and the shoes about three and a half blocks from the scene, putting them about half way between the crime scene and the bar." he said handing her the report.

"Did the bartender confirm her being there?" Caira asked flipping through the notes.

"Yes, a few customers did as well." Braxton answered.

"Good, can you get me their statements."

"They're already on the way."

"Great. Now, did you get the phone numbers I asked for?" she looked up from the papers.

"Yes, they're listed in the report we also got the boyfriend's number as well." he answered. "But I don't think you'll need them."

"And why's that?" Caira asked in a humored tone.

"Because we've already have times set for them to come in." he said matching her tone. "The parents will be here in 2 hours." he said looking at his watch.

"WHAT?" she snapped shooting up out of her chair. "You bastard! Why didn't you tell me that in the first place! I'm not even close to having this place ready for questioning!"

"Well then you better get to work." Braxton smiled and turned around, about to walk out of the room.

"Oh no you don't!" she grabbed the back of his collar. "You're going to help me."

"Fine." he shrugged. "It's not like I'm doing anything anyway."

"Good." she said releasing his shirt. "Can you start organizing the papers on my desk, so I can grab a quick shower." she quickly grabbed a pair of spare clothes from one of the three bags she had next to her desk. "The showers are still open right?"

"Yeah. But you better hurry."

"Thanks." she said hurrying out the door.

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_"Damn it!"_ Caira thought as she ran down the hall. _"Why does it have to take me so long to take a shower!"_ she hurried through the corridor almost missing her office she quickly opened the door. "Sorry I took so-" she stopped ducking down to dogde a blue stress ball to the face. "What the hell?" she snapped from her crouched position on the floor.

"I thought you said a quick shower!" Braxton yelled standing beside Caira's desk.

"I lost track of time!" she defended standing up quickly.

"Whatever." he rolled his eyes, then he noticed Caira's outfit.

She had on a black tank top, and shorts that went to about mid-thigh on her. Her long black hair was held up in a messy bun with a few short strand hanging in front of her face and propped on her nose was a pair of thin black rimmed glasses. She also had on her black high heels and belt.

"You know, usually you want to look a bit more professional when you're going to question someone." he chuckled.

"Well, sorry I don't own a suit." Caira hissed.

"When did you start wearing glasses anyway?"

"I always have. Though, usually I wear contacts but the ones I was wearing fell out and I didn't bring an extra pair." she said.

Braxton lookd down at his watch. "Well, you got about 30 min-"

"Excuse me agent Summerton?" a voice behind Caira squeaked.

"Oh Kayla, good evening." she turned and greeted the smaller blond woman.

"Yes, same to you. Um, Mr. and Mrs. Richards are here." the woman said jestering to the couple behind her.

"Oh well, maybe you don't have 30 minutes." Braxton joked which earned him a glare from Caira. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and looked away avoiding her stare.

"Well I guess we can start early," Caira mumbled. " come on in." she ushered the victim's parents into her office.

Both parents looked to be middle-aged, the woman was tall and thin while the man was shorter and more plump. The woman wore a simple but elegant blue dress, she had light blue eyes and long blonde hair, she looked a lot like her daughter. The man wore a formal business suit, he also had blue eyes but his were more dark in color, and he had short choppy black hair that had started to gray. A feature Caira was all ready dealing with, even though she would only be thirty in less then a week.

"It's so nice to you, Mrs. Summerton. We've heard so much about you." the woman greeted in a voice that reminded Caira of those prissy rich women on TV.

"Indeed it is. I'm so glad you're the one working on our daughter's case." the man flattered, shaking her hand.

"Actually I'm not married. And it's nice to meet you too."

"What? You're not? Buy you must have a man, I mean you have to be at least thirty-eight." Mrs. Richards gasped. Caira felt her eye twitch, if there's one thing she hated more than arrogant teenagers, it was being called old.

"I'm twenty-nine." Caira said biting back a harsh notion. Braxton chuckled behind her, which earned hin another glare.

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

"No it's fine." she said waving it off. "How about we get started. Please take a seat." she jestered to the two chairs sitting in front of her desk. "Braxton you stay here." she said to the man as he started for the door.

Braxton sighed heavily then returned to his previous spot beside her desk. Caira also sat down and pulled out her case files.

"Okay Mr. and Mrs. Richards, when was the last time you saw your daughter alive?" Caira started.

"Let me think..." Mrs. Richards said thinking for a moment. "I think it was around 6:30pm." she answered.

"Yes, that must be it, we had just finished dinner and she wanted to go out and celebrate one of her friend's early graduation." Mr. Richards said.

"And what was your daughter's behavior leading up to this event?"

Normal like always." he said looking at his wife, who nodded in agreement.

"She has always been a happy and loving girl. No problems at school, always hardworking. Everything seemed normal, I mean she was sad when she heard that her friend was graduating early and leaving town, but that's normal, right." Mrs. Richards explained.

"And what about her friends? How do they act?"

"A good group of girls, never got in trouble, never did anything wrong. We're friends with their parents so we know all of them." Mr. Richards said. "But if I were you, I would look into her boyfriend Joey Thomas."

"And why is that?" Braxton questioned.

"Because that boy is trouble. Ever since our darling April started dating him, all sorts of people have been showing up at our house."

"It's not like Joey is a bad kid, it's just that he's friends with a lot of bad people." Mrs. Richards tried to explain.

"Wait, what kind of 'bad people?"

"Well, who do you think!" Mr. Richards snapped. "Drug dealers, gun smugglers, crimimals, gang members, the whole lot of 'em!" he listed, infuriated. "I even heard he was part of a gang himself."

_"It looks like we have our first suspect."_ Caira thought. _"So a gang _was_ involved after all."_

"Do you know what gang he belongs to?" Braxton asked.

"Sorry, we don't know that." the mother hung her head.

"It's fine." Caira assured. "If I may ask, what do you two do for a living?"

"I'm the manager for the New York Giants football team." the father said proudly.

"And I'm the designer for a fashion magazine." the mother said in a equally prideful voice.

"Okay. And do you have any enemies in your professions?"

"Are you kidding me? Try every opposing football team and rival magazine in the country."

"Well that lengthens the suspect list." Caira mumbled. "How about at school? How was your daughter's relationship with her classmates?"

"Well, it was great." Mrs. Richards said. "She got along with everyone."

"Okay." Caira said with a small sigh. "Mr. and Mrs. Richards, can you think of anyone who would want to hurt your daughter?"

"No, everyone loved April. Even those terrible boys Joey hangs around respected her."

"All right. Also," she said pulling a photo of the red pocket knife found at the scene from her desk drawer. "this pocket knife, does it belong to your daughter? We found it in her purse."

"Yes, Joey had bought it for her birthday." Mr. Richards confirmed. "Like we said Joey hangs around a bad group of people, so he had gotten it for her as for protection.

"Well Joey sounds like a good kis." she smiled. "Mr. and Mrs. Richards did your daughter take any money with her when she left with her friends?"

"No...?" Mrs. Richards said looking unsurely at her husband. "One of her friends was going to pay for all their drinks." she said before explaining. "You see, they take turns on paying when they go out together. It was Laura Engles turn this time, so April didn't take money with her. And if she did it was probably only a few dollars."

"And did April ever drink a lot?"

"Heavens no." Mr. Richards said immediately. "She never really drank. And when she did it would be those low alcholic drinks."

"Okay, last question." Caira said showing the couple a picture of the angel pendant. "Have you ever seen this necklace?"

"Oh, what a beautiful necklace!" Mrs. Richards eyes lit up. "Sorry I've never seen it before, but it looks like a lovely piece."

"I haven't seen it before either." Mr. Richards said.

"Well, that's all right." Caira said with a small sigh standing up. "Thank you for taking the time to talk to us."

The couple stood up and shook her hand.

"Anything to help catch our daughter's killer." Mrs. Richards said sincerely. "If you need anything else please don't hesitate to call us."

"Yes, and I'm dearly sorry for your loss."

After the couple left Caira sat back down and stared at the empty chairs in front of her desk. Her mind carefully going over everything that was said during the questioning. Which frankly, wasn't a lot.

"I see those wheels turning." Braxton said jokingly. "What did you figure out?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Richards seemed a little to calm for parents who just found out their only child was killed." she answered. "They immediately pointed fingers at Joey, the victim's boyfriend even though they said he was an honest kid. Also, their reactions to the questions seemed suspicous."

"How so?"

"Well, first I had expected them to react, but Mrs. Richards acted differently then I had thought she would." she said. "First was the actual lack of emotion. She only showed praiseful emotions when she was able to brag about her daughter. And like I said she didn't seem like the heartbroken mother I had expected, she acted as if this was just one of the many business meetings she attends everyday." Caira leaned back in her chair. "She emmediately tried to explain a subject when her husband got angry at a question. Which I'm not too suprised she did, it seemed like the most logical thing to do."

"That's a good point."

"But with Mr. Richards he seemed easily aggitated and on edge." she spun her chair around so she could look out the window. "Again he didn't seem like a grieving father and also acted as if this was some business meeting."

"Maybe that's how they normally act." Braxton suggested.

"Maybe, but he still acted as if the questions were actually accusations against him, as if they were to hurt his reputation and not help his daughter's case."

"That's true, it was hardly how I would act in his situation." he said.

"But they did seem honest." she noted. "It still looks like we're going to have to question the victim's friends, though. And we may want to talk to a few of Joey's friends as well."

"Right. I'll see if we can't get any of their numbers as well." Braxton said standing from his seated position on Caira's desk. "In the mean time you may want to go home and get some real sleep. Nothing's going on tomorrow so you should take the day off." he suggested. "Going on like you have lately can't be good for your health."

"Maybe you're right. Shi must be getting tired of being home alone. Plus if I have to pay the neighbor anymore money to babysit him, I'm going to have to give him my entire paycheck."

"Wait. you got a new cat?"

"No, Shi is my dog." she answered. "You know, the big white one."

"You mean that husky mix that _attacked_ me two months ago?" he questioned putting enphasis on the 'attacked'.

"He didn't attack you," Caira chuckled. "he just wanted to play." she stood up and started packing her case files into her work bag. "Besides," she grinned, slinging her purse over her shoulder. "I think he likes you." she grabbed her duffle bag and work bag, and headed for the door. "See you friday." she waved back at him.

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**I can't believe it! I'm finally done with this chapter! That took WAY to long!**

**Anyway...**

**Please read and review!**

**Next Chapter:**

**Chapter 3 - Free Day**


	4. Chapter 3: Free Day

**Yay! Chapter 3!**

**Thank you Suaveburn for your review.**

**A nice chapter to thicken the plot, Enjoy!**

**I read part of this chapter out loud at school during Open Mic, and I'm happy to say a few people actually liked it. So, now my confidence is through the roof! (Hopefully it will stay like that when I start learning to drive *prays*)**

**P.S.: Caira's house is based off what my house looks like... mostly.**

**Disclaimer: *refer to prolouge***

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**Chapter 3:  
Free Day**

Caira pulled into the drive of her small two-bedroom house. It was a cozy place located in a small housing complex that was in a more quiet part of the city about a mile from her work, it reminded her of Kansas' small secluded towns.

Her house was a tan color framed by light brown bricks, it had a curved side walk and the grass was green and freshly cut courtesy of a neighborhood boy from across the street. A rose bush was on either side of the small porch, freshly trimmed and blooming bright red and white colors, and a old bench sat quietly and comfortably on the porch. The house was in good condition except for the green metal frame on the bench that was starting to peel and it's wooden fence that surrounded the backyard where two oak trees and a weeping willow stood proudly looked rough and discolored.

Caira walked up her porch steps and unlocked the door, only to be greeted by the loud bark of her dog as it openned. He jumped up happily placing his large paws on her shoulders.

"Okay! Okay! Down boy! I'm glad to see you too!" she laughed as the dog licked her face. "Stop! Down Shi." she said the last more sternly and he relunctly jumped down. Caira looked around her living room. "Well, I'm glad you didn't tear anything up this time." she said to Shi who barked happily. "I guess I have Stanley to thank for that."

Her living room walls were chocolate brown in color, sitting in front of the left wall was a green couch on one side of it was a small dark wood end table on the other was a small yellow children's rocking chair from when she was younger, and in the corner was a potted plant.

On the back wall which openned into the kitchen hung a large mirror. In front of the wall sat a blue lazy boy recliner, another end table and a rocking chair.

A hallway sat on the right side of the room next to a small grandfather-style clock that hung on the right wall. The hall led to a small bathroom, the laundryroom, a hall closet, a small bedroom Caira had turned into an office, and her bedroom.

"It's good to be home." Caira happily smiled, throwing her bags onto the couch.

She grabbed a remote oof her sterio that sat on a chest next to the TV. Pressing the 'POWER' button the TV came to life with the sound of New York's news channel.

"Good evening New York!" the news anchor said with a plastered smile. "I hope you all are having a wonderful April 1st."

"Yeah, whatever." Caira mumbled.

"In today's news; She's New York's top detective and known as the 'Nancy Drew' in the world of gang violence, and she's on the case again. Detective Caira Summerton will be leading the investigation into the shooting death of April Richards last night in a alley way on 'Hunter'." the man continued, reading off his script.

"No information has been given on the case at this point, if you know anything involving the case please contact New York's Police Department or Detective Agency." he finished. "Next in our lineup, Sports!" he said with a more pleasant tone.

Caira switched off the TV at the sound of that sentence.

"No thank you." she said with a quiet sigh. "These people really give me to much credit." she yawned

Rubbing the back of her neck she walked through the hallway and into her bedroom. Calapsing onto her bed she let out a happy and tired sigh at it's comfort and soon drifted into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

**_Sometime that Night_**

Caira was awoken by Shi's loud barking, swearing under her breath she pulled a pillow over her head and tried to block out the noise of the dog, with little success.

"Shi! Shut up!" she snapped but the dog did not stop. _"Give me a break..."_ she thought with a groan. _"Its been three days since I've actually slept... and now this stupid dog won't shut up!"_

Caira looked over at the clock sitting on the night stand beside her bed.

10:45 pm. The clock flashed in big red numbers.

_"Wow. Have I really been asleep for over ten hours?"_ Caira thought.

The sudden sound of glass shattering in the living room and Shi's low whimpering made Caira shoot up to a sitting position.

"What the hell?"

She jumped out of bed, grabbing her gun off the night stand she ran into the living room. By this time her sercurity alarm was going off and Shi was barking and growling franticly. Caira saw head lights run across her now broken window and ran to the door, throwing it open she ran outside just in time to see a small dark car speed away with the sound of squealing tires echoing into the night.

Caira swore, running back into the house as the first of the neighbors lights flicked on. Her phone started ringing loudly, she shut off the alarm and picked up the phone.

"Helo?" Caira spoke into the speaker, running her fingers through her hair.

"Caira! I just got a call from the sercurity company saying your alarm just went off. Are you okay?" Braxton said in a worried tone.

"Oh yeah, I forgot I had you as a emergency number." she let out a small laugh. "Yeah I'm fine."

"What happened?"

"A few teens trying to cause trouble most likely." she assured. "Damn kids threw a rock through my window." she eyed the window, looking over the extent of the damage. "At least they didn't hit the TV."

She spotted the medium-sized rock used to bash her window sitting beside the couch.

"Well, I found the rock." she said.

Picking it up she noticed a string wrapped around it. Turning the rock over she saw a folded piece of paper tied to it.

"There's a note tied to the rock." Caira spoke into the phone.

"What does it say?" Braxton asked.

"Hold on." she said. holding the phone on her shoulder she untied the note and folded it open.

She looked at the paper in shock.

"Hey Braxton... I'm gonna have to call you back..."

"Wait! What hap-" Caira hung up, cutting him off.

She looked at the note again.

Written on the paper in big red letters, was the word 'REVENGE'.

Caira's shoulders dropped and she let go of the rock.

"It can't be..." she muttered to herself.

Her ebony hair fell in front of her face as she hung her head, falling to her knees her eyes shut tight.

"Oh God, please be from a previous case..." she prayed. "Please, don't let it be them."

Caira looked up at the ceiling, her pale-green eyes starting to fill up with tears.

"I... I don't think I can face... him again."

**Chapter End**

* * *

**I am sooo sorry it took so long! *hangs head in shame* I just got so caught up in things. I've been very busy and I've been in a rut for awhile now. **

**I swear I will try to upload chapters A LOT quicker for now on, but I start school again soon and will be even more busy with that and tennis and meeting for my robotics team. I'm going to be at my school for about 15 hours straight every week day during the fall season, plus I'm going to talk to my English teacher to see if she will work some extra time with me on improving my writing.**

**A bit of good news though! I passed Driver's Ed! Now I have my restricted license! Yay!**

**Next Chapter:**

**Chapter 4: Recollection**

**Caira: I haven't talked about my past for so long... Can I really trust anyone with the truth?**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**


	5. Chapter 4: Recollection

**All right! Chapter 4 is up, I've finally started my sophmore year of high school 2 days ago and I have a Business Law class which might acually help with this story plus I'll get to go to the prison! This might sound a little weird but I've always wanted to visit a prison, and now I finally get the chance! Yay!**

**Thanks Suaveburn for your review! Your like my favorite reader ever! I'm glad we became friends!**

**So I realized something while typing this. This story is actually supposed to have a Caira/Tomi (if I haven't mentioned him in any chapter's so far he will probably pop up in the next few chapters) feel to it but now its sorta got a Caira/Braxton feel to it in a way. It's funny actually Braxton wasn't supposed to become such a big character in this story, in fact in my original idea for this Braxton didn't even exist, his character kinda just popped into my head when I was writing the prolouge.** **It's funny how things like that can happen and I think this story turned out a lot better with Braxton then it would have without him. **

**I think Braxton's become my favorite male OC I've made, other then Spike from my 'Kira' story.**

**Anyway, getting off that tangent. On with the story!**

**Disclaimer: Again I know I don't need this but I will attach it to every freaking chapter I write! So yeah, I own this.**

* * *

**Chapter 4:  
Recollection**

A load knocking on the door notified Caira of the presents of a visiter she wasn't expecting.

"Coming!" Caira called to the person at the door. She hurried over and openned the door. "Braxton? What are you doing here?" she said in suprise at seeing the blonde.

"I just thought I'd drop by and see how you were doing." Braxton shrugged.

"Oh, how sweet of you." she said sarcasticly. Braxton cracked an amused grin.

"By the way, I love the duct tape on the window." he joked reffering to the duct tape and plastic that covered the hole in Caira's window from when the rock went through it.

"Ha ha. Very funny."

Shi came running up to the duo, jumping up he knocked Braxton to the ground and began licking his face happily.

"Get him off me!" Braxton yelled trying to push the dog away.

"Shi! No! Leave him alone!" Caira snapped, grabbing the dog by his brown leather collar and pulling him off Braxton. "I'm so sorry Braxton!" she said sincerely. "I guess he just really likes you."

Braxton stood up, his gray eyes flashed an irritated look.

"No it's fine." he asured with a grumble, dusting off the front of his jeans.

"So what was it you wanted?"

"Well..." he stuffed his hands into his pockets, a slight blush on his face. "I was wondering if you'd have lunch with me..." his face turned more red. "I mean if you can't that's fine too... It's just that you're always working and I just thought..."

"Wait. Are you trying to ask me on a date?" Caira inquired with a grin.

"What? No!" he denied his face turning even more red. "It's not like that!"

Caira gave a light laugh.

"Don't be embarressed." she smiled. "I'd be happy to have lunch with you."

"Really!" Braxton smiled.

"Sure. Just let me get my purse." she said turning back into the house. She walked back into her room and got her black high heels from her closet, going to grab her purse off the vanity she spotted her reflection in the mirror.

Since she had been at work for an entire week Caira had decided to spend the day cleaning so her plain white t-shirt and jean shorts were covered in dust and grime.

"Well, I can't leave looking like this." she frowned walking back to the closet.

She slid on a pair of faded jeans and put on a black tank top before pulling a blouse over it. The blouse was a light green, its collar was folded over like a kimono's and the part that folded on top was frilled up.

She hooked her smaller black work belt around her waist, she knew better than to leave without it. She pulled the end of the tank top over it so it hid her gun that was sitting in its holster on her side. She slid her balck heels back on and put her hair up in a messy bun.

Satisfied with her work she grabbed her purse and headed for the door.

"So, who's car are we taking?" she asked apon return.

"Mine of course." Braxton smiled pulling his car keys from his pocket.

He pressed the auto unlock on his keys and Caira looked out at the driveway when she heard the car unlock. She was suprised to find out his car was actually a rusted blue ford pick-up instead of something like a volvo or some other small type of car.

"I didn't know you drove a truck Braxton." Caira said somewhat questionally.

"What can I say, I got the south in my blood." he shrugged.

"Oh yeah, I forgot you're from Texas." she pondered that sentence for a moment. "Wow, I just realized how many of our co-workers aren't from this state."

"On that note, shall we head out." Braxton jestered to the truck.

"Right." she nodded. "Shi don't tear anything up while I'm gone." she called back to the dog before shutting the door.

"So, have you found any new info on the April Richards murder?" Braxton asked starting for the truck.

"Actually, I haven't been able to open my case file yet so... no." Caira answered somewhat dissapointed. "How about you?"

"Are you going to tell me your connection to the case?"

"No."

"Then I've got nothin'." he shrugged. "By the way, why did you hang up on me last night?"

"The neighbors had been gathering." she lied staring back at the broken window.

"Yeah, right." he muttered.

"What?" she questioned.

"You're lying." Braxton answered with a know-it-all smile, staring at her out of the corner of his eye.

"How can you tell?"

"You're not denying it."

"Crap." she swore.

"So, what's the real reason?"

Caira pulled a piece of paper from her back pocket.

"Here." she said holding it out.

"What's this?"

"The note that was attached to the rock that went through my window."

Braxton unfolded the paper and was shocked by its message.

"Revenge?" he questioned. "What does that mean?"

"It means someone is still pissed at me for something."

They openned the truck doors.

"Do you know who?" he asked climbing into the truck.

"I have a pretty good idea." she answered jumping into the passenger seat. "But I hope I'm wrong." she said shutting the door.

"Why do you say that?" Braxton questioned starting the truck.

"Cause if I'm right I'll have to face the thing I ran away from all those years ago." Caira answered looking down as she fumbled her thumbs.

"And what exactly was that?" Braxton backed out of the driveway.

"Everything." she said staring out the window.

* * *

**Braxton: Yes! Thank you authoress! I finally got my date!**

**Caira: It's nothing to be that excited about. And why me? I'm older than you.**

**Me: So. My last two boyfriends (which were also my first two) were younger than me.**

**Caira: By a year! I'm like five years his senior!**

**Me: Anyway! Let's get on with this.**

**Next Chapter:**

**Chapter 5: Good Friend from a Not So Good Past**

**How will Braxton and Caira's 'date' go? Will Braxton finally learn Caira's past? And who from this past will show up? Why am I asking you these questions? I got no idea, but checkout the next chapter to learn the answers.**

**Review please!**


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